Once again, problems plague restart of Pilgrim

Monday

May 25, 2015 at 1:02 PMMay 25, 2015 at 3:54 PM

By Christine Legereclegere@capecodonline.com

PLYMOUTH — After its shutdown for reactor refueling last month, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is in the process of cautiously powering back up under the watchful eyes of federal inspectors, following a failed attempt at getting the plant back on line last Friday.

Workers had been in the process of powering up Friday morning and reached about 15 percent of capacity, when they were forced to manually force shutdown due to problems with the main condenser that uses bay water to cool steam generated by the reactor and convert it back into water.

According to Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan, the loss of proper condenser function was caused by “several aggravating circumstances,” based on a preliminary report submitted by Entergy, the Plymouth plant’s owner-operator.

Two water boxes, used in cooling the condenser, had been taken out of service, which had resulted in reduced heat removal capability Friday, Sheehan wrote in an email. A condenser pump flow valve was stuck open and caused hot water to be recirculated to a part of the condenser with no cooling flow. And an off-gas system that helps create a vacuum needed for condenser efficiency was also out of service.

Sheehan said the condenser water boxes have been restored and are operating satisfactorily; the flow valve was fixed and the off-gas system is back in service. The operators were allowed to restart the reactor Sunday and are currently powering back up.

Entergy spokeswoman Lauren Burm confirmed Monday the plant continues to power back up but would not say when it would be at 100 percent power because the information is “business sensitive.”

The company had spent $70 million on upgrades, maintenance, inspections and repairs during this latest refueling outage, bringing in nearly 1,200 workers to help the 600 staffers at the plant, according to Burm.

Sheehan said Friday's failed start “will count as a hit” on the number of unplanned forced shutdowns at Pilgrim, and therefore affect its performance category at the federal level.

The Plymouth plant is currently among the poorest performers in the country, based on federal standards. It is in a “degraded” performance category that requires heightened oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

NRC spokeswoman Diane Screnci said Friday’s failure at the plant posed no danger to the public.